Buying a house - what is the process and what is there to consider?

[hw72]

I am starting to look into buying a house and wondered if anyone could share their experiences of this. What is the actual process of buying a house? Do they have searches and valuations like the UK? What does the range of price mean - ie I have seen houses for sale $600 - 649k. Is the market where you can purchase the house for less than this? How long does the process take? Any experiences on taking out a mortgage would be good too.

 

I would really appreciate anyone's advice

[Nic964]

Hi we've just brought our 1st house out here, and the process is different. Generally the realty agent (estate agent) are really helpful, as they know were new to this. Differences are

 

1) Viewings are generally fixed times during weekends, so everyone views the house at the same time. generally you get 30-40 minutes to look round. Owner won't be there.

 

2) If you put in an offer and are accepted, then you sign a contract there and then to buy the house, which your duty bound to do. You can put clauses in the contact, typically around not getting finance, or survey issues, but its generally pretty watertight at that point, which is good for both of you.

 

3) Use a mortgage agent to get your finances in order. We found a great one, and even though we'd only been in the country 5 months, we got an offer in 5 days. They will value the house for their own purposes, and will let you know if its overvalued.

 

4) If you have less than 20% deposit to put down, you have to take out an insurance against defaulting on the mortgage. This is a one off payment which is rolled in with your mortagage, but can be $10+K, it costs more the less deposit you have.

 

5) structural surveys are less frequent, but pest surveys (turmites) is a definite. Only costs $150, and can tell you if you've got damage to woodwork etc.

 

6) when you sign the contract for the house, you are locked into timing, the first is time to get finances approved, and the second is settlement, i.e. when you take over occupancy. Typically 30 days each, though you can shorten.

 

7) You don't haver solicetors, but settlement agents, who do similar task. You can actually buy a house without using agents (DIY sale) but you are less safe.

 

 

Houses vary alot. We are 40 minutes away from Perth, in what people think is a lower class area, called Kwinana. We have a 3x1 (Bed, bath) on 800m2 and we paid around $250 for it. Needed some work, but nice cul de sac. My advice is to look around, but you cant generalise, there are good and bad streets next to each other, in the same area, so you have to look each time.

 

Finally mortgages, no problem. Again a good agent is key. He talked us through found the best deal, and did all the hard work. We have savings from the house sale in the UK, and they were happy with that, as long as we could highlight where it came from (i.e. a house sale, not drugs!!). We needed proof of income, 3 months bank statements in Australia, proof of visa etc. Nothing that we didnt have to hand.

 

Also there's no age limit on Mortgages here, a standard mortgage is 30 years, and you can take one out at 65 over 30 years, as long as you have the means to pay. So unlike the UK, where you are limited by retirement age, here your not. You can also split between fixed and variable rate schemes, offset schemes, etc, etc.

 

 

Its not difficult, just different.

[hw72]

Many thanks for your advice, this is really useful

[StraighttothePoint]

Many thanks for your advice, this is really useful

 

Some more stuff in the this site that probably will help http://reiwa.com.au/Faq/Tips/Pages/Browse-tips.aspx and maybe here as well http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/consumerprotection/content/Property_renting/Buying_and_selling/

 

Happy researching

[Home Loan Experts]

I am starting to look into buying a house and wondered if anyone could share their experiences of this. What is the actual process of buying a house? Do they have searches and valuations like the UK? What does the range of price mean - ie I have seen houses for sale $600 - 649k. Is the market where you can purchase the house for less than this? How long does the process take? Any experiences on taking out a mortgage would be good too.

 

I would really appreciate anyone's advice

 

Hi

 

I am a mortgage professional and interested in helping you with your question.

 

Can you expand on what your visa status (all potential borrowers) and employment situation is?